Give your heart a chance
by do-have-a-biscuit
Summary: The old nightmares come back when you least want it, but can you heal by healing others?
1. Chapter 1

_"You, you listen to me! Nobody needs you, you are nothing, rubbish, filth, a useless thing. Only taking space and using my money and food, but not doing anything worth living for!"_

Maria wanted to shut him up, to kick, to run, to scream, but all she could do was just stand there and wait for her uncle's fists to come in contact with her face and body again, again and again. She wanted to run, but couldn't.

"Fraulein Maria? Are you alright?"

Maria couldn't understand where she was, who was speaking softly, but worriedly into her ear. She was all sweaty and her heart was pounding against her chest, as if she just ran a mile. When she opened her eyes though, all dawned on her. She was safe. There was no uncle, but the words were still echoing in her head. She was staring into a wall in front of her, but saw nothing. Suddenly, as if someone had snapped their fingers she turned to a voice that spoke to her. What she saw, was a slightly trembling child, who looked as lost as herself.

"Oh, Martha. Everything's fine." No, everything wasn't fine. She hadn't had nightmares like this for almost five years, and suddenly they were back. She had a feeling that it was because she felt her bond with this house and this wonderful family growing stronger and stronger…"Sweetheart, why are you up so early?" Looking around her room she noticed that it was brighter than at night, but still everything was still in shadows.

"Well… I had a nightmare… Oh Fraulein Maria, why am I having them? Why don't they leave me alone? I don't want to have them.. Now I'm happy. Why aren't they leaving me? Maybe I am sick?

"No no no. Don't ever think so. All people have nightmares. Even the strongest and bravest…"

"You mean… you also have nightmares?

"Of course…" Maria was thinking about telling little Martha that she just had one, but didn't get the chance as Martha quickly said:

"Did you just have one too? Because when I came to your room… I found you all kicking and you looked as if… somebody was hurting you… Are you really alright? I could call fath…

"NO! No, darling, I'm alright.." No.. not the Captain.. If he saw me like this, he would think I was a crybaby. Maria Rainer didn't care what people thought of her, until it came to her inner feelings. She hated being thought of some kind of woman, who can not hold her own ground. Oooh, she could do just fine. She did it fine for more than 10 years and she wasn't stopping right now. The Captain. Now he was a riddle… And he said that I was difficult. Ha. One moment he is looking serious as if someone was dying, and next he is laughing from his own unaccountable thoughts..

"Fraulein." Martha was still looking at her governess with fearful eyes, as if wanting to say something but couldn't.

"Oh, come into bed. Don't stand here, you'll get a cold. And we know your father or any other sibling wouldn't want that." A young woman scooted to her side of the bed, to make room for a girl to climb and settle in. Martha rushed to her governess and quickly got into bed. She settled herself under Maria's arm and as she did it, she felt as safe, as if she was in her mother's arms.

"Goodnight …Mother…" She said it in a very quiet voice, as to herself. Suddenly she felt Maria's arms tightening around her and so the girl started to drift to a peaceful sleep again.

"Oh, my dear child.." Maria thought " You have no idea what you, or your whole family are doing to me…" With Martha in her arms, she felt safe and all of her nightmare's terror leaving her. She slept the remainder of the night very well.

What she didn't know, was that another person was watching them sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Can you believe this? After 3 years I finally cooked up the courage to come back ! This year is of course special for the TSoM people, so I guess it is my little input into that celebration :) Aaaanyway, I seem to have forgotten what I had in mind with this story, so I will need ideas how to get form here. So you are all welcome to share your ideas and of course criticism and opinions are highly welcome :)**

There have been days in her past, when she would get such splitting headaches that even normal human behaviour was impossible. She would cover all the possible light sources, mute all sounds and curl under the blankets without no need for anything else. However this has not happened for the last 3 years. Until today, that is. The day was glorious, one of those rare sunny ones, when there's not even a cloud in the sky, not even the breeze in the air and apparently not even a care in the children's world. So it is no surprise that those little devils were happily playing outside with the ball, their governess looking as one of the children, running and laughing along with them. _Really, how she is capable of keeping up and not fell over at the end of the day is a mystery._ But this joy was not long lived, when Elsa started feeling that unwelcome throbbing in her skull. Knowing well, that if she let it go untreated, it will only get worse, she excused herself from the terrace, where she and Max were spending their afternoon, waiting for Georg to return from the city.

The only thing to do now, was to try to get to her room without a lot of movement. Movement made it all worse, so none of that now, thank you very much. Finally in her room, Elsa made all the preparations needed to make her little lair of comfort and silence and curled into the little ball and slept.

And that is why now she was wandering the halls of the von Trapp Villa at around 5 a.m. Without any aim or thought she walked through the eerily silent house, amazed by its simple beauty. It was nothing like her grand house at the centre of Vienna, but it had a certain charm to it. She could clearly see, why Georg liked it so much, or how Agathe was always happy to come home after all the socializing in Vienna. _Oh, dear Agathe. How everything changed. When Georg married you, you were the happiest person on earth, and so was he. The real perfect match. And look what happened after. _Elsa Schraeder was not an over emotional woman, but even she missed her once best friend and confidant. All those high society balls in their youth, where they would stand somewhere together and giggle at other people antics.

Suddenly the house wasn't that silent anymore. She could hear a sound similar to sniffing coming from the second floor. Curious as what was going on she went to look at what was making that sound. Only when she got closer to the door that seemed to separate her from the sound, they opened and a little girl shuffled out. She was wiping her eyes, and not even looking at Elsa's direction. The little girl seemed to have a destination in mind. "_And why do I think I know where she's going" _thought Elsa. However, even knowing that the girl was probably going to her governess, Elsa followed. Maybe it was because of the time of night or her headache but she felt that she needed to be sure, that the child was alright.

"You mean…. You also have nightmares?" asked the little girl her governess.

"Of course."

"Did you just have one too? Because when I came into your room… I found you all kicking and you looked as if… somebody was hurting you… Are you really alright? I could call fath…

"NO! No, darling, I'm alright.." Now Elsa could clearly see the dishevelled form of the young governess, too dishevelled even for her. She was curious, what could have made her so. However that train of thought was interrupted by the goodnights in the room.

"Goodnight …Mother…"

Of course Elsa knew how close the children were to this young woman. But she did not realise how close. The governess seemed to be smitten with the children as well. And Georg seemed to be smitten with the girl

Out of the blue a thought struck her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we are with a third chapter. I know they all look very unrelated, but as it is from different characters perspectives, I will try to put them in a nice, coherent story. This one is a light one and I hope you enjoy :) Please leave your ideas, of what can be improved :) **

The morning came bright and warm and quite too soon for Georg's liking. However, there's nothing to be expected differently, as he fell asleep only a couple of hours before, due to rummaging through his old stuff, that was storaged in a lately unused attic. What he found was lots and lots of old photographs from his royal navy academy days and of course old family photos that were the main goal. He sat throughout all night looking at them and smiling and remembering. That's what made him wake up with a smile on his face. Only then did he notice what time it already was. He was late for breakfast! That hadn't happened for almost 10 years, and Georg was definitely not letting his regimen slip. He hastily washed, dressed for the day and headed down.

What made him even more surprised was that everyone was already at the table and already eating. And by everyone he meant everyone. Even Elsa had graced the land of the living, which never happened until noon. However there she was. Sitting at his right hand, chewing her toast and looking smugly at him. Right in front of him sat Fraulein Maria. She was deep in conversation with his children, who looked very happy to be able to participate. His heart swelled looking at all of his children, seeing how they all had grown and changed. From that thought his mind was beginning to take a trail on the young governess, however it was interrupted by the same person.

"Captain! Good morning, sir. As we didn't find you at the table, we thought you were too busy and won't be joining us. We are sorry to have started without you."

"Oh no, that's not a problem, Fraulein. I seem to have lost my track of time." After sitting himself at the head of the table Georg added "Actually, children, there's something I think you will be interested to look at."

Eight faces looked up at him, seven with evident excitement and one with natural curiosity. Maria was looking at him with a strange look on her face, as if she was encouraging him to go on, but without wanting to look too eager herself.

"I've been rummaging through the attic yesterday, and I found something that I hope will be of great interest to you. How about we head to the room after breakfast, mm?" He could feel their gazes boring into him, trying to decide what he managed to find. Only Brigitta had fixed her gaze on the ceiling, as if trying to look into the said attic.

"Father, are those 'somethings' are from when we were little?" Now she was looking at him imploringly, hoping that what she thought was true was indeed true.

"Mmm, yes. But you'll have to wait after breakfast to find out." Georg was really astonished how right the little governess had been, when she said that Brigitta notices everything. Of course she knew where all the stuff that could remind them the past were stashed. He even had an inkling that once or twice someone has been up there to look around. And it definitely wasn't him.

After this admission, everyone seemed to finish their breakfast in record time, so after 15 minutes Georg was heading to his study to pick up all the photographs he had found last night that was fit to see. That means excluding the majority of naval times, because all the parties in those photographs were usually having a very jolly time. Maybe even too much of that jolliness.

Having excused herself, Baroness had headed upstairs to her room, which left Maria with seven eager children, all chattering happily, awaiting their father with the surprise.

Maria was happy, that after their talk, if that could even be called a talk, at the lake a week before, the Captain was trying very hard to reconcile with his children. Every now and then she would find him standing in the doorway of the nursery where the children were studying under her watch, or watching over them from the terrace when they were all playing tag or something. However she couldn't not notice the hurt look he would get, when the children would stop what they were doing to almost scramble in line at the sight of him. He would look as if he didn't know what to do, and that made her even more resolved to help this family. It dawned on her that not only children needed her guidance, but also their father. Her reverie was disturbed when a loud chorus of cheering welcomed their father back with an intricate device in his hands, along with a square box. Shooing all the boys and girls into the living room, Captain came to stand near the governess, who was making her way outside, as it was clear, that she would be not needed.

"Fraulein, I.. would you join us? I think the children would be very happy if you did" And with a smirk he added "And well… so would I. It might be a proof that I'm not that heartless snob that you think me to be."

Trying to hold her grin from breaking out, Maria managed to answer "It would be a pleasure, sir. But I still don't understand what kind of contraption is this" She said motioning to the device in his hands "And anyway, I don't think you to be a heartless man, Captain."

"And what about the snob?" She could see the laugh in his eyes along with a teasing grin, so was brave enough to shoot back, walking into the living room after the children. "That depends on your performance, sir"


End file.
